mercredi 30 octobre 2013

Morse is a band from Montpellier (France) that are releasing (with Head records) their first album called Beliefs destroyer, after a demo in 2010.
what they play is a vicious kind of hardcore with some heavy mid tempo sludge riffing and pounding but also a nice touch of noise rock with tricky song structures and rythms. the songs are well crafted and displays a good balance beetween subtility and heaviness, aggression and groove. there's no filler on the album, which is good, but let's hope the next one last longer than 18 minutes!

mardi 29 octobre 2013

Beastmilk, a new post-punk band from Helsinki, get noticed and created expectations with their excellent 7'' Use your deluge released last year. they are now back, once again with Svart records, witht their first album called Climax. their sound reminds bands like Joy division or Fields of the Nephilim but is more punk and heavy and could be related also to The Misfits (including the vocals that are a bit Danzigesque). the album develops a good atmosphere, cold and intimate, it's filled with good melodies, and it also have enough energy to be a real "rocking" album (I'd say Climax is faster and less new-wave than was Use your deluge). it's crafted with a lot of taste and is highly addictive. each songs is a post-punk / gothic rock "hit". Use your deluge was already so good that it was a challenge to top it. but yes with Climax they did it again!

samedi 26 octobre 2013

Aussie grind's Agents of abhorrence previous records were excellent, really grind but in an personnal way, sticking to grind basics and it's over the top intensity but avoiding streotypical song structures or sound. their new album, Relief, is also excellent, maybe their best release to date, and one of the grind record that impressed me the most this year. compared to their previous work, the guitar sound is thicker and the vocals lower (they have a new vocalist who is as good as the previous one, in a different style), overall they have some extra density to their sound. Relief is really in your face brutal, but it's never exhausting and never too much because the songs are really finely crafted, yes it's really songs, grind songs. pure agression but it's also "catchy", in a grind way, and even gets epic at moments. their ability to create such density and intensity in songs and bringing different shapes in grind (for exemple a somewhat "rocking" vibe in the riffing at times, and a drumming that is excellent for the blastbeats but also for slower parts) could place them at the side of bands like Nasum, Brutal truth or Pig destroyer. Grind at it's finest, uncompromising intensity and creativity.

mercredi 23 octobre 2013

with their new album Soma (and debut full lenght with Relapse) Windhand is clearly becoming a new doom metal heavyweight. they have the heaviness, they have the melodies, they have the atmosphere (dark and smoke filled) but above all they have the ability the write good songs. five excellent doomy heavy metal songs somewhere between recent Electric wizard and Black sabbath, plus one good accoustic song sounding no less doom than the rest. they could have edited the last part of the last song, but exept that it's a flawless record. I also advise you to check the really good split they did with Cough as well as their first eponymous album.

dimanche 20 octobre 2013

Coke bust is one of my favourite hardcore bands, their fastcore / accelerated straight edge is really hitting hard and fast. they recently released a 12'' (nine sort songs) called Confined and it's another perfect exercise in the style. no bullshit, straight to the point and stripped of any uneccessary fat. really tight and focused. if you like this kind of music don't hesitate, just go for it.

samedi 19 octobre 2013

this is the second Ep by Church of the dead (from Finland), it's called vol2 Terror tales and is the following of Stay out of my graves (which I reviewed HERE, with an interview of the band). I'm pleased to say that this second Ep is as good as the first one and maybe even better. it's really catchy old school death metal, not catchy because it's especially melodic (it's good crazy twisted death metal riffing all the way!), but because the songs are well crafted and going staight to the point, digging on the more trashier and punkier side of death metal for a perfect efficaciency in making you headbang and stamp your foot. good point also for the cool vocals, sounding different than most other deah metal bands, maybe it's a a bit higher, but sill really old school death. my only complain is that it's just three songs.
it's time to release an album guys!

vendredi 18 octobre 2013

Chiens from Nancy is a good exemple of the growth of the grind scene in France. their new release Vultures are our future (10'') shows that they really master their fastcore / grind and each of the short 13 songs are sharp and very dynamic so the intensity is at a high all record long. I especially like the vocals and drumming that are typically grind. they found a good balance with the production which is clear enough and raw enough. they don't bring something new but their grind is really well crafted and executed so it makes a really enjoyable listen. their LP released in 2010 and their split with The afternoon gentlman are also really worthy of your attention.

mercredi 16 octobre 2013

if you like dark industrial/ electro beats The blood of heroes (with Justin Broadrick, Enduser and Submerged, with the ragga/jungle vocals of Dr Israel) will be an excellent choice. their second album The waking nightmare sees Bill Laswell replaced by a guy from Pere Ubu on the bass but otherwise continues on the exiting direction of the first album. frenetic jungle / drum&bass beats or dark industrial soundscape meets cold and heavy guitars and creates ominous atmospheres somewhere between dub / bass music and metal with diversity and surprises showing regularly without breaking the unity of the album.

lundi 14 octobre 2013

yep, Antigama, The kill and Noisear on the same split record, exiting isn't it? thanks to the excellent Selfmadegod records for releasing it. eleven tracks of the best grind by three among the best grind bands. each one having a special and personnal take on the style so there's diversity on this split which is always welcome. Antigama plays some modern, technical "sci-fi cyber grind" (justa way of describing its atmosphere). The kill is more old school straightforward trashy grind, with really cool and efficient riffing and very fast drumming. and Noisear is modern and technical grind with the very special and original riffing of Dorian Rainwater and the drumming of Brian Fajardo. there could be a lot to be said about each of these bands, but hey, Antigama, The kill and Noisear sharing a split? enough said..just go for it!

mardi 8 octobre 2013

I discovered this cool demo thanks to this review on Operation Grindcore, and it's a good discovery. Caged grave is an australian band and they play some fascore with Entombed like riffing and sound or is it some old school death with a frenetic punk delivery? anyway it's fast and agressive in a really pleasant way, this death / hardcore mix (or "blackened hardcore" as people say) is done by many bands these days but it rarely sound so spontaneous and genuine (I was going to say "fresh" but of course "dirty" would be more exact, but well you see what i mean!). it's just eight songs in something like eight minute but it's really worth listening to it. a promising new band to follow.

lundi 7 octobre 2013

The new Oranssi pazuzu arrive to take us to a new mind blowing musical trip! it's called Valonielu, released by Svart records (20 buck spin for the US) and it was one of my most anticipated album because I was completely won by their previous works (find HERE my review of their previous album, coming with an interview). expectations were high but I'm not disapointed! what's great is that they manage another time to do something different while maintaining the quality and keeping their special touch. this time the atmosphere is less dissonantly nightmarish and the
vocals are the only black metal element remaining, the melodies are in
brighter colours and the vibe and rhythms are more krautrock, with also
more keys part in a sci-fi spacey mood. I'd say Valonielu would be more
Can meeting Arcturus whereas Kosmonument was more Mayhem meeting King
crimson. what remains the same, is the ability of the
band to produce surprising music taking you far away in a surrealistic
like trip.

dimanche 6 octobre 2013

Tone of thingsto come was one of the most interesting death metal album released last year, opening new possibilities of developement for the style. what Chaos echoes plays is firmly rooted in old school death metal, but with the addition of some dissonant riffing, of doom / drone elements, and, and that's the point, elements of free improvised music. that special mix results in some truly creepy atmospheres. they dared to follow this path even further with the recording, as a duo (the Uibo brothers) of some entirely improvised track (it's called Duo experience / spectral affinities). i'd say Tone of things to come is a more solid release, but i'm convinced that following the improvised way they can produce some great music. a band to follow. anyway you have to check Tone of things to come.

samedi 5 octobre 2013

Inhumate is a french band (based in Strasbourg), with guys playing since 1990 and since 1994 under the name Inhumate. and the experience shows because on their new album Expulsed (their sixth full lenght) each song is a death grind hit! of course it has the aggression and the speed, all he blast beats needed, but also the groove, monstrous grooves! with some low vocals growled in a very rythmic way, and the simple but very efficient riffs, played with a modern clean and fat guitar tone, helps the song stick to your head. listening to it is a somewhat primitive pleasure, but trust me it's really enjoyable, and i'd even say fun!
the best summary is given when one scream at the start of one of the song "faut que ça chie!" (which could be translated as "it must blast"). et ça chie indeed!

jeudi 3 octobre 2013

Subrosa's previous album was one of my favourite release in 2011 (read HERE my review, going with an interview I did with one of their singer/guitarist) and More constant than the gods is already one of my favourite album released this year (on Profound lore records again). their special brand of metal, with heavy guitars, mid tempo epic doom songs, but also two electric violins and female vocals (clean and raw) is still extremely powerfull, but their sucess does not rely on the uniqueness of this combination, the new album follow the path of the previous one so i'm not surprised anymore by it's specificity. no, the key to the excellence of Subrosa is not their unique formula, it's just how extremely well crafted the songs are. excellent songwriting and excellent delivery, that's it. each one of the six long songs on the album develops a strong atmosphere, very emotionally charged (the excellent vocals helps!) and vibrant, with fascinating epic crescendo and climaxes. it's really heavy, and at the same time the melodies and the vocals lines stays in your head and grips you by the gut. as classy as it's cover art. it's different, but it's a classic.
heavy metal at its best.